Bayern Munich’s next manager will be current Eintracht Frankfurt boss Niko Kovac, according to media reports in Germany.
As BILD reported on Thursday night, Bayern are set to pay €2.2 million (£1.9m) to trigger a release clause in Kovac’s Frankfurt contract and hand him a two-year deal in Munich as Jupp Heynckes’ successor.
The 46-year-old Berlin-born Croatian made his name as a tough-tackling defensive midfielder, with spells at Hertha Berlin, Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg and Bayern Munich – where he won the league in 2003.
After spells as youth and then assistant coach at Red Bull Salzburg, he managed the Croatian national team to the 2014 World Cup in Brazil before accepting his first club appointment at Eintracht Frankfurt.
He rescued the Eagles from the brink of relegation in his first season, led them to the German Cup final in his second, and has guided them to fifth in the Bundesliga this year – one of the league’s indisputable success stories.
Speaking to Kicker magazine in January, Kovac insisted that “there has been absolutely no contact with Bayern. As it stands, I will be in charge of Eintracht Frankfurt next year – 100%.”
But that now appears to have changed after Kovac informed Eintracht sporting director Fredi Bobic on Thursday of a deal which, according to Kicker, was reached two weeks ago.
Bobic himself has so far refused to comment, telling BILD on Thursday night: "I've just got off a plane and haven't received a call. Niko and I talk about everything but I've received no information."
The Berlin-born Croatian rescued Eintracht Frankfurt from the brink of relegation in 2016 and has guided them to 5th in the #Bundesliga this season.
A long and difficult search
Bayern Munich’s hunt for a new manager has been difficult and public. Current incumbent Heynckes took over from Carlo Ancelotti in October and has since led Bayern to a sixth straight Bundesliga title, transforming a five-point deficit into a 20-point lead.
But the 72-year-old has always insisted that he was only doing the club a “favour” and that he would return to retirement at the end of the season, despite club president Uli Hoeness’ best attempts to convince his friend to stay.
Now, after former Borussia Dortmund manager Thomas Tuchel also turned down Bayern in favour of Paris Saint-Germain, and with RB Leipzig boss Ralph Hasenhüttl likely to sign a new deal with the Red Bull club, the Bayern bosses have settled on Kovac.
Ticking the boxes
Kovac fulfils many of Bayern’s strict criteria – but not all.
Despite his Croatian nationality, Kovac was born and grew up in Berlin and speaks fluent German – a pre-requisite in Bayern’s search for a new manager, according to Rummenigge. He also has an historic connection to Bayern Munich, having made 51 appearances for the Bavarians between 2001 and 2003.
Rummenigge and Hoeness will also have been impressed by Kovac’s ability to build a team featuring an eclectic mix of characters: the current Frankfurt squad contains 18 different nationalities.
“You have to know different cultures and their peculiarities,” Kovac told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in December last year. “But different cultures mean: different influences, different ways of thinking.”
“Often, we try to treat everybody just the same but that’s fundamentally wrong,” he continued. “But we’re not all the same. We can all learn from each other.”
Frankfurt have been hitting the right notes for a while now, as discussed here.
Inexperienced
But with only two-and-a-half Bundesliga seasons under his belt and having never managed a club in European competition, he lacks managerial experience – one reason why young Hoffenheim manager Julian Nagelsmann was discounted by Bayern, for the time being.
For that reason, Heynckes’ long-term assistant, and former Fortuna Düsseldorf manager, Peter Hermann, will remain at Bayern to support Kovac, who will also bring his brother Robert and Armin Reutershahn with him as assistant coaches.
Their immediate task will be to manage the transition to Bayern’s next generation, gradually phasing out veterans such as Franck Ribery and Arjen Robben and continuing the development of young players such as Joshua Kimmich, Kingsley Coman, Leon Goretzka (joining from Schalke in the summer) and Serge Gnabry (returning from loan spell at Hoffenheim), while pushing for a seventh consecutive title.
The rest of the Bundesliga must be ready to pounce should it not go completely to plan.
